Someday Photo: Coleman’s Pub, County Mayo, Ireland

June 4, 2012 | Ed Foster Jr.

Coleman's Pub in Knock, County Mayo, is a traditional Irish pub in a village of 600 people that is known worldwide as the location of the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin.

In Ireland, there are two things you don’t want to miss: A traditional Irish pub and a pint of Guinness. I sampled the foamy dark Irish staple so I could say so, but my preference is a hot black caffeine beverage. That’s ok too because pubs are really about more than pints and partying.

Coleman’s Pub in Knock, County Mayo, is a friendly communal hub where local lore and the latest gossip flows freely if you belly-up at the bar. Soccer fans tend to gather around wall-mounted tellys where rowdy rules and the competitive lots can be found at the snooker tables or dart boards. The dark corner booths near where the neighborhood mutt naps on the grizzled wood floors are perfect for contemplatives, lovers and the shy.

This little village of almost 600 souls is known worldwide as the site of an apparition by the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist in 1879.

Coleman’s Pub is nestled among religious souvenir shops hawking cheap holy water bottles to the pilgrims on their way down the road to the Knock Shrine of the Blessed Virgin. When it opened in 1938 it was named for St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.

Photographer’s Note: Someday photographs are those that were made after hours while on assignment or simply because I was moved by the spirit at a particular moment in time. Many of them have languished for years as transparencies, negatives and digital files waiting for someday. I’ve eliminated Saturday from my calendar and Someday is now the day after Friday and before Sunday.